St Jerome Laneway Festival

What started as a series of weekly shows at a tiny Melbourne bar has bloomed into one of Australia’s most beloved festival institutions. Across a decade of expansion that has seen the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival become an international signifier of essential music, the event continues to showcase its original set of values: championing community, fostering collaboration, encouraging self-expression, and finding ongoing excuses to have fun.

St. Jerome’s began in 2004 as not much more than a hole in the wall. An ex-Swedish meatballs shop turned glorified speakeasy, the tiny bar was hidden halfway down the rat and garbage infested Caledonian Lane in Melbourne’s CBD. Opened by Jerome Borazio as an excuse to have somewhere to drink with his mates, it sold cheap booze, had no dress code, and instantly became a magnet for the likeminded.

Laneway continues its ongoing international expansion, returning for events in Auckland and Singapore.

St. Jerome's Laneway Festival began in 2004 when Jerome Borazio and Danny Rogers decided that summers in Melbourne would be far better with more live music in unique settings. In a true example of actions speaking louder than words, they started to put great bands into St. Jerome's Bar (RIP) in Melbourne's Calendonian lane.

First came the St. Jerome's Summer Series each Sunday afternoon featuring 'new' bands of the time like The Presets and Architecture In Helsinki; next it extended to include a monthly Saturday night called Brains (which was actually a residency for The Avalanches, who turned the little bar inside out).

Still not satisfied that they were doing enough, one night Danny and Jerome convinced The Avalanches that they could close the lane, remove the bins and throw a proper laneway party. The Avalanches' mate Monkey quickly made up a poster, they asked a few friends to play and so began the annual St. Jerome's Laneway Festival.

Fourteen hundred people attended the first laneway festival. It was packed, smelly and full to the brim with great local music, and the vibe was awesome, utterly awesome...